


And Now We All Live Free

by Wawa_Girl



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Post-Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Romance, Spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Star Wars References, Team as Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 14:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wawa_Girl/pseuds/Wawa_Girl
Summary: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away--""Which galaxy?" Rocket immediately challenged, ready to poke this "epic story" full of holes before the first sentence."Uhh...I don't remember," Peter confessed, wincing.The hot-tempered rodent whispered a growl into Groot's ear. "He isnotgood at this."





	And Now We All Live Free

**Author's Note:**

> This contains major spoilers for all three original _Star Wars_ films.
> 
> I _highly doubt_ that will be a problem for anyone, but since this is a _Guardians of the Galaxy_ fic, and not a _Star Wars_ fic, I thought a warning for that was only fair, just in case. ;)

"Whahat the--?" Peter said with an amazed chuckle the moment the first trumpets began to play. "What is this doing on here?"

The Guardians looked up at him while finishing their meals. "What is it?" Gamora asked, Peter's head turned toward the Zune. It was noticeable to the rest of the team that the current piece was much different from the other pop and rock songs, sounding more like an important instrumental score.

"It's the main theme from _Star Wars_ ," he answered, a bit in awe. He was always listening to the same favorite songs on his new music player, so was yet to hear everything already on it. "Its previous owner must've been a huge fan. Been a long time since I've heard this tune," he said wistfully, the others still giving him quizzical looks, " _Star Wars_ theme" clearly not a sufficient explanation. "A popular movie series on Earth. I probably watched all three of them twenty times as a kid."

"Ahhh, here we have another example of Quill bein' a massive fucking dork with no friends," Rocket reported to the entire table, earning him glares from Gamora, Quill, _and_ Groot, who stared at him with tiny hands on his sides. "Too far?" Rocket asked the group. Drax only slurped loudly from his bowl, and the raccoon resumed licking his own plate.

"...what type of movies are they?" Mantis asked to break the awkwardness.

"Mmm, space travel, adventures, good verses evil type of stuff," Peter did his best to explain.

"Like our own lives?" Gamora pointed out.

"Well, maybe not so realistic. It's fiction, fantasy..."

"I am Groot!" the small child jumped in excitement at his own request.

"Heh, maybe sometime, bud, but I don't know if my telling the story would be the same as watching the movies as George Lucas made them," he told Groot.

"Good!" Rocket exclaimed, hopping from his seat, motioning for Groot to follow.

"I want to hear it!" Drax stated loudly, raising a large arm high in the air.

"Why?" Rocket crinkled his nose at the destroyer.

"It could be fascinating. And it has 'Wars' in the title. Wars have blood. I'm interested in bloody tales."

"Well, you guys--" Peter tried to interrupt.

"We _live_ every day performing space battles. Why would you want to hear about a dumb fantasy story?"

"I love stories!" Mantis piped up, now as excited as Groot at the prospect of post-dinner story time.

Both Rocket and Peter sighed, Rocket giving up on convincing the team how uninteresting this would be, and Peter feeling he may be trapped playing narrator.

"Gamora?" Peter looked to his right for her opinion on the idea.

The green-skinned woman beside him thought for a moment. "We're not busy right now. And your descriptions of Earth legends can be enjoyable. If you want to share it...?" she gave him the option with a smile, having a soft spot for his childhood stories.

The decision seemed unanimous, with the exception of Rocket, who was grumbling about how Groot _had_ to ask.

"Alright then! Gather 'round, losers!" Peter announced, rising from the table and walking to the cockpit, his team sitting down on the floor like a batch of kindergartners on a classroom rug.

"Yeah, this'll be just riveting. Storytime with Shrill. 'Scuse me while I hurl," Rocket said bitterly as he joined in anyway.

"It's going to be _awesome_ ," Peter said more confidently, ready to put his twenty-six year old memories to the test, and take full advantage of his friends _wanting_ to hear his cultural Earth references for a change. "Let's see...OH!" he stopped himself from thinking of how to start and walked over to the Zune. "Let's do this right," he said, placing the _Star Wars Main Title_ on a loop, John Williams' famous score playing throughout _The Quadrant_.

"Now..." Peter began with a theatrical clearing of his throat, Gamora simply rolling her eyes, but prepared to listen with honest interest.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away--"

"Which galaxy?" Rocket immediately challenged, ready to poke this "epic story" full of holes before the first sentence.

"Uhh...I don't remember," Peter confessed, wincing.

The hot-tempered rodent whispered a growl into Groot's ear. "He is _not_ good at this."

**********

The best hit tunes from the 1960's and 70's, and a specific portable device for convenient listening, had been Peter Quill's primary source of entertainment and comfort growing up. This was especially true on his worst days, which usually translated to "his mother's worst days in the hospital." He rarely had the desire to take those headphones off, few things being more interesting to hear.

 _Star Wars_ , however, was on the top of the list of visual media he absorbed like a sponge, just above _Knight Rider_ and _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_. When his Walkman batteries were dead, or he needed an extra pick-me-up to forget about his problems, rewatching the journey of his favorite space heroes always did the trick.

So it wasn't hard for the leader of the _Guardians of the Galaxy_ to recall enough prominent details of the grand space opera to hold the attention of his fellow comrades.

The interest of the audience ranged from enthusiastic attention to more subdued curiosity. Groot and Mantis listened with wide, child-like eyes, much as Peter himself must have looked while staring at the TV screen during his first viewing with his mom when she deemed him old enough. Drax appeared to be showing respect for the characters' heroism, while impatiently waiting for more exciting action to take place. Gamora's gaze looked that of a sociology professor, studiously taking notes in her mind and preparing questions for later.

All were proudly and vehemently siding with the rebels, having against all odds defeated a massacring terrorist themselves. They followed the plot well enough, and remembered the characters' names and roles, so Peter figured he could have had a worse audience.

"So that guy didn't argue with Vader anymore after that."

"How was he able to choke somebody without touching him?" Gamora asked, both fascinated and worried over the villain's terrifying ability that could be used on the innocents. Mantis also appeared extremely disturbed, fingers moving toward her own throat.

"The Force," Peter simply explained with a wave of his hand.

"Which is?" Gamora further questioned.

"A bunch of made up gobbledygook!" Rocket shouted, hoping to speed things along, Groot giving him the stink eye for ruining the drama.

"Hey!" Peter pointed at his killjoy teammate. "You are not cool enough to be Han Solo! Shut up!"

"What _is_ 'the Force'?" Drax asked, getting them back on track.

"It's...an energy field sorta thing? A power that can be used for both good and evil," Peter attempted to summarize, fairly certain he had covered this. "Vader uses it for destruction, while the Jedi use it for the opposite purpose. It's the main way Luke is even able to blow up the Death Star...oh, fuck!" Peter screamed and covered his face. He did _not_ just give away the most amazing ending without the proper build-up. "Okay, forget I said that. It's not until the end."

"Too late!" Rocket jumped in, taking advantage of this spoilage. "We get the gist! Next movie! Next movie!"

**********

"Luke was grasping onto the pole in the air shaft for dear life, the wind blowing like crazy. Vader had him cornered," Peter said dramatically, standing from his Captain's seat, growing quite animated as the story unfolded. "And _that_ was when Vader revealed it. He confessed that _he_...was Luke's father."

Groot let out a tiny gasp, Mantis covered her mouth, and Gamora sat up a bit straighter, mildly surprised by this twist.

"Wow. That's heavy," the former assassin admitted.

"I know!" Peter agreed, turning around to find Drax and Rocket less invested. "Aren't you guys surprised?"

"It was fairly predictable," Drax stated. "The villain had an extreme interest in Luke, and evil fathers are quite prominent in our own lives," he continued, Peter baffled that the severely literal man could pick up on foreshadowing, or would connect their real life experiences with a fictional tale.

"Well...yeah. But it was a big deal when the movie was new!" Peter pouted like a child.

"So did he kill him?" Rocket asked while stretching his tail and arms.

"What? Who?"

"Did Luke kill Vader or what?" the raccoon elaborated.

"No," Peter answered, shaking his head in frustration at the interruptions keeping him from telling the second film as it happened.

"I am Groot!" a tiny voice said, both scared and confused.

Rocket nodded in agreement. "Right. That's what _you_ did when you found out your dad was evil. Like, almost _immediately_!"

"Well that was a different situation," Peter said through gritted teeth, and Gamora looked concerned at Peter's discomfort at the focus of this conversation.

"Enough," Gamora told Rocket sternly.

"There has been no indication that Darth Vader purposely killed Luke's mother. That makes it much different," Drax very poorly whispered to Rocket.

"GUYS!" Gamora snapped, silencing all insensitive talk, and flooding Peter with immense relief and gratitude as he mouthed a _'Thank you'_ in her direction.

"Not a problem. Go on, Peter."

Of course, the discussion only continued as the Guardians debated how Luke could possibly survive much longer with a genocidal father seeking after him. _'If Luke doesn't kill 'im, someone else better do it soon. What kinda friends are they anyway?'_ a certain rodent-like critic protested.

Mantis surprised everyone by interjecting with an _'Oooh, ooh, I know! I know! Han Solo will kill him!'_ , completing her declaration with excited applause, gaining disturbed looks from everyone else in the room as the normally innocent empath happily predicted a bloody murder.

"But the smuggler is still trapped in carbon freeze," Gamora rejoined the discussion, not forgetting a single plot point. "What is wrong with Leia that she hasn't melted him out of that yet? Is she just going to leave him in there? How cruel," she said, more than a little bothered by this unjustifiable negligence.

Peter heaved a long sigh before looking up at her. "Give them some time to formulate a _plan_. Not everyone's as a quick on the heroic rescues as you," he said exasperated, simultaneously giving her a sly smile that she took as a strong compliment. "You'll have to wait until the third movie," he repeated, getting very tired of saying that.

"I am Groot! I am Groot! I am Groot!" the little one leapt from Rocket's side to take position on Peter's knee, staring up at him with impatient eyes that screamed, _'What are you waiting for?!'_.

"Haha, okay, buddy. I'm sure you're gonna love when we get to the Ewoks."

"E-whats?" Rocket asked in a bored tone.

"Angry little fur balls. Not unlike you," their storyteller teased.

A loud "HA!" could be heard from Drax's corner, Mantis squealing about how the creatures sounded adorable, and Groot jumping and declaring his name until Peter finished describing the end of the second movie and led into the final installment.

**********

Excluding several unnecessary comments regarding improper fight techniques and inaccurate spaceship models, the group seemed to soak up the action and adventure that took place in Jabba the Hutt's palace, Drax letting out a mighty _'Whoop!'_ when the fat slug was mercilessly strangled, Gamora smiling with glee at the slaying of the monsters, although making her feelings well known regarding the princess being kept in that golden outfit for the males' pleasure.

Groot was undoubtedly saddened by the death of Yoda, snuggling farther into Peter's shirt as the backwards-speaking mentor exited the story, but the tiny tree _did_ greatly enjoy and appreciate the Ewoks, along with the others who never even tried to mask their love for these new characters.

Some needed to suppress their disappointment each time Peter switched from the battle on Endor to the temptation of Luke, but the Terran was trying his damnedest to keep it interesting. Drax had resumed yawning in boredom, but the females were on the edge of their non-existent seats, the empath glancing up at their storyteller with guilty eyes for reasons he couldn't pinpoint, Gamora's face near unreadable while taking in the almost psychological exchange between the Jedi and the Sith.

A pin could be heard falling on the floor of _The Quadrant_ as the Guardians' leader concluded young Skywalker's tale.

"Luke obeyed and removed the mask of his father. Anakin Skywalker, no longer Darth Vader, took his final breaths and gazed at the face of his son, finally, in his last moments, brought back to the light side."

If the rare silence and solemn faces of his audience were any indicator, Peter had done a fairly decent job of conveying the emotion from the original scene.

"Wha..." Mantis began, swallowing a lump. "What about the Emperor?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"He's dead," Peter reassured.

"Wasn't he supposed to be, like, super friggin' powerful? How could he have died that easily?" Rocket asked.

"And wouldn't Luke have acquired serious injuries from being electrocuted by Palpaloo?" Drax added to the mix of questions.

" _Palpatine_. And that stuff doesn't matter," their leader insisted. "What mattered was Vader's redemption. Luke was the only one who believed in him, and--" He stopped at the sound of someone's breath hitching, just to the left of everybody else.

"Gamora?" he said softly. "Are you okay?"

The other four pivoted their heads to see the fearless assassin sitting with glassy eyes and sniffling.

"Are you crying?" Peter asked, a combination of shock and concern.

Gamora quickly crossed her arms and wiped at her eyes. "What? 'Course not," she insisted, the roughness of her voice betraying her lie.

Peter was momentarily conflicted between feeling proud that his retelling of the scene that resonated with him most as a boy was effective enough to move the strongest warrior he knew to tears, and worried that the subject matter had honestly hit too close to home. "Sure you're alright?"

"Yes, yes, why wouldn't I be?" she asked, clearing her throat. "I--I was barely even paying attention." The cybernetic rodent scoffed. "I am _fine_. It was touching, but...I was mostly thinking about...Leila."

"Leia," Peter corrected. "What about her?"

"She's truly going to wind up with Han Solo?" she asked, knowing the story was coming to a close, and the diplomat's relationship with the smuggler had grown into more than a fling. "I mean, it was admirable to save him from Jabba," she cut in before anyone could protest. "But for a long-term romantic attachment? If she absolutely must be committed by the end, Luke is clearly the more respectable choice. How could the most intelligent and level-headed character fall in love with a man of a shady background, whose main hobbies include bragging about his past adventures and saying anything to get under her skin? What does she see in him?"

Once again all eyes were on the Zehoberei, murmurs of _'Did she really just say that?'_ and _'Her mods may be short-circuiting'_ accompanying their stares.

"What?" she asked indignantly, everyone looking at her like she had developed swords for limbs, before raising her eyes to where Peter stood.

"Helloooooo?" the Terran said, pointing to himself with both index fingers, and the connection between her words and what the rest must have been thinking clicked in her brain.

"Oh," she said looking down, her first time feeling like the biggest idiot in the group. "Well, I suppose in _some_ situations it could work. You have...other redeeming qualities," she said, waving in his direction.

"Thank you, thank you," he jokingly took a bow, Gamora glaring at the implications and Rocket faking a gag. "But Han and Leia are great together," he said, realizing he was sounding too feminine while defending this romantic subplot. "Besides, she can't be with Luke, because..." he stopped himself from finishing that point, having skipped an important detail when summarizing the final movie.

"Because why?" Drax asked, genuinely curious.

"Umm..." Peter started. "Well, see, I forgot to mention earlier that, uh...there's a scene where it's actually revealed that Luke and Leia are, umm...well, they're, uh, they're...twins, they're...brother and sister," he half-mumbled into his palm.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! HOLD ON!" Rocket shouted, shaking Groot out of his slumber in Quill's lap. "YOU said that they kissed before!" he said, pointing at their storyteller with an accusatory claw.

"Yeah, that's true..." he confirmed, causing everyone to grow quiet for a whole new reason, all present galaxy-savers suddenly appearing very itchy.

"Well, that is...troubling..." Mantis said.

"Troublin'? It's GROSS!"

"Is...that's not, umm...is that a common thing on Terra?" Gamora asked as her eyes darted around the ship uncomfortably.

"NO! Of course not!"

"Perhaps inbreeding is a large part of Terran culture," Drax whispered to Mantis and Rocket.

"It is NOT! It was one kiss _before_ they knew they were siblings--"

"I _told ya_ this was a bad idea! Groot, cover your ears; this story's a perversion!"

"I am Groot?"

"What kinda sick, twisted stories was your mother showin' to you as a kid on that planet?!"

"HEY!" Peter shouted before the raccoon could go any further, enforcing the number one rule that any criticisms of their leader's mother was crossing a line. "She kept things entirely appropriate, and they're innocent films. It was only a teensy bit icky in hindsight," he explained calmer, remembering his mom comically cringing along with him at that reveal. "I _swear_ such activities with blood relatives _are_ frowned upon on Terra. They ARE, Gamora!" he said louder when he turned to her.

"If not, it would explain a great deal about him," Drax poorly whispered again. Star-Lord made an enormous groan into his hands.

Gamora shook her head to try to erase the mental images. "Maybe you should move on and try to wrap this up, Peter?" she suggested as nicely as possible. The room then erupted into shouts of agreements, Mantis and Drax hollering to _'Go back to the warrior bears!'_.

"Fine, fine, fine," he conceded. Anything to stop the spread of rumors that incest was an acceptable practice during his formative years. "Umm...okay, where were we? What did I say was the last position of the second Death Star?"

_"WRAP IT UP, QUILL!!!"_

**********

By the time the team departed, Rocket was thoroughly exhausted from saying the words, _'No, for the hundredth time, you are not getting a light saber! The Force isn't real, Groot!'_.

Mantis had sweetly, and somewhat desperately, informed each individual that she would be happy to help them fall asleep if they needed, making it quite obvious that she would be needing the help most. It was still surprising to her new friends, how after serving a tyrannical monster herself for so long, fictional stories portraying the ugly side of life were enough to shake her up. The sleepy sapling eventually lifted his branches and offered to stay in her room, so they could chase away the nightmares together.

Drax and Rocket walked ahead of them, the destroyer puzzled why _'The stars never once fought in a war,'_ with Rocket bitching, _'They shoulda scrapped that annoying, cockblockin' robot for bomb parts.'_

Regardless of their moods as they left for their own quarters, all their dinner dishes were still lain around the table, and Peter stood by with Gamora as she cleaned them up.

"They are _so_ good media-starved," Peter stated as he picked up the Zune and took the film's score off the loop, resuming the typical music the crew had become accustomed. "It's tragic."

"I think they enjoyed it," she said over her shoulder as she picked up the bowls and utensils their friends abandoned. "Even Rocket," she reassured, having noticed the little thief was indeed afraid during the biggest turning points in the tale.

"What about you?" Peter asked, checking the ship's autopilot, grateful for the lack of disturbance all night.

Gamora paused, searching for the right word while balancing a surprising number of plates and cutlery. "It was...interesting," she said. "Interesting to hear how Terra weaves its narratives and imagines space travel. Though many of those characters would not have stood a chance in a real battle."

He laughed softly and walked closer to her. "I'm sorry if parts of it felt too...personal, or were sensitive--"

Gamora instantly turned around with a serious expression. "Peter," she said firmly, and then whispered, "It was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it."

"I'm a little surprised how much I remembered. And how much of it is oddly similar to our own experiences." Anakin's sacrifice and redemption took on a whole new meaning for him now, and he never even considered how Gamora would relate to it.

"The parallels are striking." Her voice was beginning to sound emotional again. "A few times I was close to thinking you were making things up. Either that or you purposely tried to arrange your life to fit those of your childhood icons," she joked to lighten the mood.

Peter placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. "I find your lack of trust in me disturbing," he said in a fake deep voice and winked.

She only stared at him and picked up Groot's empty water glass. "Huh?"

"Nevermind. Line from the movie. I couldn't cover _everything_."

"Are there any more good stories with the same characters? I'm sure Groot will be begging for more."

He shrugged. "There were supposed to be three more movies that took place before the events of the trilogy, but I was abducted before they were released," he told her in a disappointed tone, though not _too_ disappointed, because he then got to _live out_ real interplanetary adventures. In a way it felt even.

"Shame," Gamora commented anyway, and resumed her tidying task.

Listening to the next song on the musical device, Peter mentally thanked Yondu, and whatever _Star Wars_ fanatic owned the Zune last, for the piece of nostalgia, and opportunity to share this part of his youth with his friends.

He wrapped an arm around Gamora from behind, not unlike when trying to persuade her to dance. "Sooooo...you still think Leia picked the wrong guy?" he teased.

She stopped what she was doing and froze. "Well not _now_ ," she said, crinkling her nose in disgust.

"Ugh, taking Luke _out_ of the picture, I mean," he said, turning her around to face him. "Do you think Han and Leia could make it work?"

She pursed her lips and placed the collected dishes back down. "Perhaps. If he watches himself," she mimicked his teasing tone.

"Oh yeah?" He quirked an eyebrow flirtatiously.

"Why don't you tell me how it ends?" she asked, entwining their fingers.

Peter looked confused. "I told you guys the ending. I know Drax fell asleep, but you didn't. The Ewoks helped defeat the Empire, and they all had a big musical celebration with drinks and dancing--"

"No, no," she interrupted the ending he had already told them. "I meant Han and Leia. How does their story end?"

"Oh," he said, surprised by her newfound interest in the romantic segment. "Well...after she told him that Luke is her brother, and everyone was safe, I guess they...lived happily ever after." He knew the line was cheesy as hell even before it escaped his lips. "They probably eventually got married, gave up any former illegal activity, helped each other heal from their loss and trauma, and...enjoyed the rest of their days...being heroes with their new and trusted family of friends," he concluded, truly expecting Gamora to mock him for making such a sappy comparison, but she instead gave him one of the most genuine smiles in the galaxy.

"Sounds appealing. Star-Lord," she replied, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck and catching his lips in the same familiar way.

Time, space, and the very ship they called "home" all felt to be standing still, as Peter closed his eyes and kissed back without a single complaint, _Star Wars_ the farthest thing from his mind. The orchestral tune that played during all three stories was now replaced by a song performed by the _Bee Gees_.

"I love you," he said genuinely when they broke apart.

There were so many things she could say, so many ways to respond, so much that she hoped to never stop saying to him as long as she could speak.

But for now, Gamora settled on the rather smooth line from the character she had just been introduced.

She gave a cheeky grin and quickly pecked his lips again. "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Current mood: Ready to fight anyone who tries to dispute my "Peter Quill was a ginormous _Star Wars_ fan as a kid" headcanon. ;)
> 
> This is the first fanfic I've published where it's more than "implied" that Peter and Gamora are a couple, and also the first time I've had the main six all talking and interacting in a room together for most of its duration, so it was kinda new territory and may have given me the most grief. So why did I write it? Because I'm still hopelessly addicted, of course. :P
> 
> Free Harbulary batteries to all who comment, and thank you for reading this silly "story within a story" piece! :D
> 
> My _Guardians of the Galaxy_ tumblr is [here](https://marypoppinswasmyfatherbitches.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
